


32.55

by viancaviolin



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: All of my writing, And speedrunners, Gen, I just love hollow Knight, If PestBox ever found this then, Is like this, It'll probably come off as extremely creepy, OK???, So please don't judge I promise not, Tags Are Hard, first fanfic, oh well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:15:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24658207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viancaviolin/pseuds/viancaviolin
Summary: Hornet's task was to stop all vessels seeking to break the stasis placed upon Hallownest.But there was one problem.How could she ever catch up to this one?
Comments: 10
Kudos: 91





	32.55

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little one-shot celebrating Pest Box and the astounding 32.55 any% wr!

The cool, damp arena lay bare.

Greenpath was always one of Hornet’s favourite places. Despite its verdant groves and lush nature, it reminded the princess protector of her own home. Both were ideal to stalk prey in.

But she had never laid eyes on prey so  _ fast _ before.

She had just a few moments to look into its gaze before it jumped up, towards the ledge. For a moment, Hornet had seen what resembled a look of panic, as if realizing that the ledge was too high. Then, faster than even she could react, the vessel turned in mid-air, and Hornet realized what was happening.

It took everything out of her to hop away in time, just outside of the ledge and the ghost’s reach as she darted into the following room, kicking up leaves in her wake as two bursts of soul echoed from behind her in rapid succession. Hornet had no doubt in her mind that they were caused by the lost vessel. 

But Hornet just had to ask herself, even as she flew through the air on a strand attached to her needle: this remnant of Hallownest’s past didn’t seem lost. No, ever since she had first laid eyes on it in Greenpath, it had been nothing but efficient. Ruthless. It had taken the most optimal routes in the most tight and compact of ways, not even sparing a  _ second  _ to breathe.

Just what was it doing? She was the hunter. This poor, not-lost soul would be her prey. And yet, there was a sort of determination in that empty vessel’s eyes that she had glimpsed, just before it had let out those two volleys of soul-infused spirits, propelling it up towards a ledge that Hornet  _ knew _ it couldn’t reach. Was this vessel really that intelligent? Why was it in such a hurry?

  
Reaching the other side of the long room, the Weaver could faintly make out the sound of mosskins tumbling, and the slashing of a nail. It was here? Already?

Tightening her grip on her precious needle, Hornet didn’t even pause for a moment. She’d lure this wanderer into her trap, and once again bring down another ghost of Hallownest. It may have tried to fire at her before, but she would be smarter. This time,  _ she  _ would be the faster one.

Dropping down into the clearing that she had prepared for prey such as this one, Hornet’s needle gleamed in the light, the vessel that had met a gruesome end sitting next to her, nail still imbedded in it’s chest. Hornet felt no pity for the failed child. It’s strength proved inadequate, and it had to be ended. For the good of Hallownest. She was a protector, after all.

In times like these, especially before what was likely to be a fight, Hornet would have prepared herself. She would have steeled her nerves, practiced with her needle. But as she should have realized sooner, she wouldn’t have time. The small noises that echoed around her indicated tiny feet, no doubt belonging to the vessel as it nearly ran into the pit, dropping down in front of Hornet. The Weaverling, though startled, raised her nail anyways. If this vessel thought it could bypass her by getting here before her, it was sorely mistaken.

“Come no closer, ghost.” She angled the needle towards the vessel, addressing it.

“I’ve seen you, cr—”

There was no time to react. In all her days spent hunting down her failed kin, she had never been so utterly disregarded before. 

But no. This was a first.

The vessel had  _ ignored  _ her.

It had cut through her words as if they meant as little as the leaves under Hornet’s feet, walking forward as Hornet dashed backwards, letting out a cry of battle. If anything about combat with these vessels had taught her, it was that they were rather surprised at her aggression. She could make the first move.

She  _ really _ needed to stop anticipating this ghost’s actions based on its predecessors. Within moments of her screaming out, the bug had taken out it’s nail, slashing against Hornet’s cloak in a wide arc, and not even waiting for her to scream out before a wall of white overtook her, then another in rapid succession, eerily similar to what the vessel had practiced not just a minute ago in an attempt to reach her over the ledge. Momentarily, Hornet was blinded as she felt a numb burning all over her mask and carapace, the distinct feeling of soul leaking out from her wound causing her to immediately snap back into attention. 

This  _ little prick. _

It had ignored her words, chased after her as if she was nothing more than a stray Dirtcarver, and had the  _ audacity  _ to attack her head on. Well, Hornet wasn’t going to let that slide by any means. It may have no voice or expression, but she could almost swear it was mocking her. 

She wouldn’t let herself just sit there and take it.

Jumping up and over the vessel in a move she had practiced hundreds of times, Hornet once again felt a slash against the lower half of her torso. Somehow, her opponent had predicted the trajectory of her jump, and in the middle of reaching her apex, and taken the opportunity to raise it’s nail, letting Hornet receive a shallow cut to her carapace as she threw her silk out, a whirlwind of whip-thin strands just beginning to release from her body before the vessel hit her  _ again, _ cutting through silk and towards Hornet herself. The upslash caused her to finish her jump, falling back to the ground as even more soul leaked out of her wounds. Breathing heavily for a moment, Hornet was in shock as she tumbled to the ground, only to get shaken out of her stupor by yet another nail swing.

Once again, she tried jumping, choosing a different method of attack. The ghost may have guessed her pattern the first time, but there was no way it was getting this right again.

And yet, as she jumped slightly higher in the air, the ghost once again used that cursed nail of it’s, slashing at Hornet. There was a clink of metal as it brushed against her needle, before colliding with her body. Letting out a pained hiss, the weaver quickly intercepted another hit just before landing. She had gotten hit multiple times, but the princess couldn’t even land a single blow on the damned thing! She almost wanted to call it unfair, but no. Life wasn’t fair. Hornet was a survivor, a huntress. She would best this vessel, by any means necessary.

But as she landed, sustaining another two nail swings, There was that telltale sound of soul, and the incoming wall of white. Hornet had to admit, she had tried to jump out of the way. But whatever kind of projectile this was, it was far too quick even for a weaver such as herself. This time, with no wall to support her, it pushed her back several feet, causing the tips of her cloak to burn from the feeling of weaponized soul washing over her body. It hurt like hell, but Hornet had faced far worse from the horrors of Deepnest. She could take one— no, two of those. 

Still pushed up against the wall, there came another one. Her legs numb, this time she couldn’t even try to jump out of the way before the vengeful spirit collided with her, making her jump far too late. By that point, however, the vessel was already in the air alongside her. It had clearly recognized that she was trying the same move she had been doing previously; jumping up and over her opponent, and letting out her storm of silk. Counteracting this with an attack of its own, the vessel slashed against Hornet head-on, pushing her back and once again in front of it. 

It was at that moment that Hornet realized what the vessel was trying to do. It was trying to pin her into a corner, making the knockback of it’s attacks minimal so that it could damage Hornet as much as possible, as quickly as possible.

And  _ that’s _ what made her see red. Just as before, with it moving towards her as quick as possible, traversing terrain with unnatural speed— it was all some sort of  _ game _ to it.

It wasn’t hurrying to Hornet, it was hurrying  _ past  _ her.

Which is why Hornet switched out her moveset, instead of jumping into the air, her needle was angled towards the vessel as she dashed forwards. With no room with which her opponent could move in, surely it wouldn’t anticipate the sudden dash forwards.

And yet, that infernal wave of soul crashed over her once more, throwing her back against the moss-covered wall, cancelling her attack. It took everything in the spider’s will to not just flee right then and there. She was a survivor, not a warrior. She knew how to pick her battles.

  
And for this ghost, she seemed to be outmatched. Once again shocked out of her stupor by the feeling of a cracked nail slicing through Hornet’s carapace, she jumped up and over, the vessel hitting her an astounding three times with it’s nail just before she reached the apex of her jump, then once with that vengeful spirit attack. Using the same method as before, Hornet’s stance was lower, her center of gravity stable as she pointed her needle towards the vessel, dashing forwards— only for the cursed sibling to not move. No, it simply moved forward as time seemed to slow down, Hornet’s opponent bringing up it’s nail and moving past her own needle in a fluid motion, striking Hornet in the shoulder as she staggered yet again.

_ I can’t keep doing this,  _ she gasped for air as the thought raced through her mind. There was no doubt about it, this fight had lasted far shorter than she had anticipated, and for all the wrong reasons. Surprisingly, however, as Hornet jumped up once more, the vessel  _ missed.  _ It missed one of it’s nail swings, being too low to actually hit her. A small victory, at least. It was still humiliating, having been so utterly defeated by a failed vessel. As another wave of soul took her senses away from her, Hornet jumped into the corner of the arena. It wasn’t a trap anymore, no. This was an arena, and the weaverling was having her ass handed to her. Even if this was exactly where the vessel wanted her to be, she’d use her position to her full advantage.

Leaning down towards the ground once more, Hornet had quickly attached a thin strand of silk to the loop of her needle, flinging it outwards and towards her sibling. But as it missed its target by just a few inches, Hornet couldn’t help but internally sigh. Of  _ course  _ it missed. Why wouldn’t it? Why couldn’t she ever win?

It was a mistake, Hornet realized, letting her weapon go ahead of her. Her opponent had jumped over it with just inches to spare, taking the time in which Hornet was unarmed to give her two quick slashes to her chest. This was her moment!   
Reeling her silk back in, the blunt end of her needle would catch the vessel off guard. It wouldn’t expect an attack from behind when Hornet was right in front of it, right?

But that’s when the final blow happened. The ring of white from around the vessel coalesced into another charged attack, the soul slamming directly into Hornet’s still unarmed form, her needle a fraction of a second away from hitting the vessel. Unfortunately, that was all the soul Hornet could take at point-blank range. Silk collapsing uselessly to the ground, Hornet let out a pained cry as she breathed heavily.

She was  _ humiliated. _ The fight couldn’t have lasted less than a minute, but the pace at which the vessel fought, the way it had timed each of it’s slashes to near perfection— it was all too much for her. Regaining her thoughts through the haze of pain, Hornet threw her needle up into the canopy, the weaverling quickly flying after on a strand of silk.

As she flew away, however, the princess could have  _ sworn  _ she heard something from the clearing.

“This would be really good if I didn’t mess up—”

And then that was all. Retreating deeper into Greenpath, all Hornet could do now was lick her wounds, and pray that this vessel had what it took to seal the kingdom’s fate.

She had a feeling it wouldn’t be long at all before her prayers were answered. Not long at all.

\-----

🎉 Congratulations on 32:55, Pest Box!


End file.
